Brogan leaves Florida after being run over by Scott

Gov. Rick Scott has already made it clear that he, and not Frank Brogan, is really calling the shots in the State University System of Florida (SUS). Brogan never showed any backbone against the governor. But it now looks like he has finally had enough of being pushed around and is saying goodbye.

Brogan will become the new chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) on October 1st.

When he became governor in 2011, Scott began running over Brogan in order to take control of the SUS.

The creation of Florida’s 12th public university is one example. Back in 2012, Brogan promoted the Board of Governor (BOG)’s multi-step plan to transition USF-Polytechnic to an independent school. But Scott basically told Brogan to sit down and shut up by tossing the BOG’s roadmap aside and signing a bill that made USF’s Lakeland campus into Florida Polytechnic University immediately.

Scott has also injected himself into presidential employment matters at schools such as FAMU and the University of Florida. He is currently making headlines for bullying trustees to do what he tells them to do in tuition-setting decisions.

Now that Brogan is gone, the BOG will likely appoint a hand-chosen Scott crony to replace him. The BOG might as well just leave the chancellorship vacant and admit that Scott is effectively the real chancellor of the SUS.